Physician&#39;s card-index.



G. F. A. HALL.

PHYSIGIAN'S CARD INDEX.

APPLIUATION run-D snr'r. 27, 1808.

r. wf M m 4,11 r i T zm az. W w. n 6 w 7/ w, W f? M G. P. A. HALL.

PHYSIGIAN'S CARD INDEX.

APPLICATION PILD SEPT.27, 1909.

946,637. Patented Jal. 18,1910.

2 SHETS-SHEET 2.

|9o9 obstetmflemi '9 swmmwfmsmess' 09 cnannnsr. a. mi., or nnwnuarronr,nassacnusn'rrs.

PHYBICIAN'S CARD-INDEX.

Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1910.

Application area september 27, 1909. serial no. 5197780.

1b all 'wlwm 'it may concem:

Be it known that I, CnAnLns F. A. HALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newburyport, county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Physicians, Card-Indexes, of which the'following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is aspecification, like characters on the d-rawing representing like parts.

This invention has'for its object to provide a nove card index systemwhich is especially adapted for the use of physicians, although it maybe used by anyone whose business require's the keeping of a number offuture engagements of a professional nature, togethcr with the keepingof an account of the services rendered at such engagements.

It is now customary for physicians to kee a visiting book 7 as it istermed, in which the physician makes entries of the future calls on hispatients, and in addition to keep a day-book, ledger and other books ofaccount, and sometimes in addition to this, to kee a book in which isentered the records of t e services rendered to' the difierent patients.

The object of my invention is to provide a card index system whichcombines in itself all the functions of the visiting book, 'the accountbook, the service book etc., and which is extremely simple to use.

The invention will be more fully hereinafter described in connectionWith the accompanying drawings, and then the novel features thereof willbe pointed out in the ap nded claim.

eferring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspcctive view of a caseshowing my improved card index system' therein; Fig. 2

is a detail view showing the construction of the follower for the cards;Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the case; Fig. 4 illustrates theportion of my' system in which the record of the daily visits is madeand preserved; Fig. 5 is a view of the' service card;

Fig. 6 is a view of the card used for obstetricl records; VFig. 7 is aview showing a card used for keeping a Summary of the physiciamsbusiness. i. i

In carrying out my inventio'n, I provide a series of service cards, suchas are shown in Fig. 5, and which are used not only for keeping a recordof the services rendered by the physician, but also for keeping a recordguide cards also i preferably alphabetitally arranged and which witht-heservice cards 'constitute a record of closed accounts; and stillanother series of guide cards which may conveniently be numberedconsecutively and which with the service cards constitute .a filingrecord for keeping filled or compl'eted service cards.

Referring now to the drawing, the service card is designated by 2 and itis imprinted to indicat-e the name of the head of the family or personresponsible for the charges entered on the card, and is also dividedinto columns, one of which is imprinted to designate the date, anotherof which is imprinted to indicate the member ofthe family treated, andanother of which is imprinted to indicate the character of the servicesrendered,` another of which is impri'nted to designate the charges forthe services, and another the credits or money neceived in payment ofsuch charges. These service cards 2 may be filled out at-'the end ofeach day by the physician, and the set of service cards thus filled willcomprise a complete record of the dayfs work.

The daily index cards are designated b 3 and each is preferably providedwith a ta 4;, and the tabs of the various cards are numberedconsecutively, as shown in Fig. 4.

.There will be thirtylone of these cards numbered from 1 to 31, and theyare used to indicate the days of the month.

The guide cards for open accounts are designated 5 and these are eachprovided with a tab 6 which is lettered, as shown in Fig. 1. Associatedwith these guide cards 6 is a card 8 designated open accounts My systemalso includes another set of ide cards 9 which preferabllare coloredifler- Z ently from the guide cards 6 Vaiidwhich have associatedtherewith a card 10 designated closed accounts The guide cards 9 arealso provided with tabs 11 which are lettered. 12 desi ates still otherguide cardsv which are provided with the tabs 13 that are numberedconsecutively. These guide cards.

the d'ata relative to the services he has performed for his variouspatients, as shown in F ig. 5. This may be done either at the end i ofthe day or the entries may be made at the time that the visits are madeor the service rendered. At the end of the day the physician sorts overthe service cards on which the various entries have been made, the cardsof those patients which are to be Visited the next day being retained bythe physician in his pocket, or being inserted directly in front ordirectly behind the particular daily guide card 3 correspondin to thenext day. For instance, on the thir of the month the physician wouldtake those service cards representing patients he expected to call onthe next day and place them in front of the daily index card 4:. If someparticular atient is to be called on the second day a er or the fifth ofthe month, the service card for such patient will be placed in the spaceindicated by the daily` card 3 numbered 5. If

the next call on some other patient is to be made on the sixth orseventh of the month, the service card for this patient will be insertedin the space indicated by the properly numbered index card 3 The servlcecards in combination with the daily index cards 3, therefore, constitutenot only a visiting list, but also a complete record of the work doneeach day by the physician. Each morning the physician merely has to takeout from the properly-numbered space in the daily guide cards 3 thoseservice cards which had been previously` placed therein, and these cardsive him a complete list of the calls which e has planned to make forthat day. After the treatment of the patient ceases, the service card istransferred to the properly-lettered space in the open account series ofcards. If, however, the bill is paid so that the account is square, orwhenever any bill is paid and the account squared up, the credits willbe entered on the service card and such card will then be placed in theproperlylettered space in the closed account guide cards. If theservices rendered for any patient are so multifariousv that the servicecard becomes filled, a second service card for this patient will be madef out and the two service cards will be given some number and the filledservice'card be transferred to the properly numbered space in the filingguide cards 12.

In addition to these cards my system includes a series of cards 20, suchas shown will in Fig. 6,` for keeping an obstetric record, and this cardmay be conveniently ruled to provide a column 21 in which may be enteredthe name of the patient, `and another column 22 in which may be enteredthe date of expected confinement, and other columns may be addedinwliich may be entered the address of the patient and the actual dateof delivery. My. system also includes prop- `erly-ruled cards 23, suchas shown in Fig. 7,

on which may be entered the summary of business. This card may be soruled as to provide columns 24 and 25 for entering charges and credits,and the physician may at the end of each week enter a Summary of thecharges for the week and the credits for the week, and thus on this cardhe will have at all times a complete Summary of his business.

My improved system is very easy to use because it is a sim le matter tofill out the service cards 2 an to place them in their proper positionin one or the other set of index cards, according to circumstances.Moreover, the system is so arranged that any Stranger can byrunningthroughthe cards see at a glance just the condition of thephysicianls work and if the physician should suddenly be incapacitated,some other physician can pick up his Vwork and go on with it withoutmissingiany patients or missing any previously-planned-for calls onpatients.

One great advantage of my system is that the cards are ruled crosswiseinstead of lengthwise. This not only makes room for added entries on thecard, but also makes the cards more convenient to handle because theywill naturally be placed on end in the pocket, and when they are removedfrom the pocket, they do not have to be turned in order to be read.

For keeping the cards in compact form ready for use I propose to use thebox or receptacle 30, such as shown in Fig. 1, which is of a width toreceive the cards and is of .proper depth so that when the cards arelofollower 32 which is provided at its lower end with a dove-tailed foot33 that is received in 'a doVe-tailed slot 34 formed in the bottom ofthe box. The length of the foot 33 is suflicient to hold the follower 32firmly in position and there is suflicient frictionbetweenrthe.footeandgthe walls of the slot 34 to hold the followeriii'a'ny adjusted position. By making the cards with the lines runningtransversely thereof instead of longitudinall it is not necessary tomake thebox any wi er than the cards and when the cards are placed inthe box they. stand upright so that they can be readily looked over. Thewhole device 'is extremely compact and takes up very little room. t

My improved system'migh't be used for other persons than physicians byproperly modi'fying the character of the data imprinted on the cards.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 'A physiciams card index comprising a seriesof service cards each being ruled and imprinted to designate the name ofthe patient, the character of the service rendered, the charges for suchservice and the credits, a series of distinctlycolored daily index cardsnumbered consecutively, a series of distinctiely-colored open accountindex cards alphabetically arranged, a series of distinctive1yco1oredclosed account index 20 permanent file record, said index cards all 25being of the same size and vadapted to 'form compartments for theservice cards.

In testmony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. A. HALL.

Witnesses:

G. W. LANelioN, WM. R. JOHNSON.

